


Rounded Third and Headed for Home

by theladyscribe



Series: Glory Days [3]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Baseball, Coming Out, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-15 02:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2213088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theladyscribe/pseuds/theladyscribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right," Jensen says, bravado he doesn't feel in his voice. "I... If we're gonna burn bridges, we might as well burn the big ones first." // A series of connected ficlets/time-stamps about Jared and Jensen, their love for each other and baseball, and coming out. (Set post-Glory Days.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These are old, old ficlets that I'm just now getting around to posting. They'll probably make the most sense if you read [Glory Days](http://archiveofourown.org/works/358327) first.

Jared ends up not retiring at the end of the season like he originally intended. When he tells Jensen he's changed his mind, Jensen smiles softly and says, "Yeah, I thought you wouldn't be able to stay away from the game."

It makes Jared want to kiss him, but they're in Jensen's office and the door is wide open. He makes up for it later, ambushing Jensen the moment he walks into the house that evening, heedless of the bags of Chinese dumplings in his hand.

*

And then he gets a phonecall, and that changes everything. It's Sandra McCoy, Jared's agent. "JT, baby, I've got some news," she starts, and already he knows he's not gonna like it. "You're a free agent, and it's looking like the Angels aren't gonna pick you back up. The Nats are interested, though - seem to think you may be a good luck charm, with two play-off berths in a row on two different teams."

He tells her he'll think about it, by which he means he'll talk to Jensen about it.

Jensen doesn't look at him when Jared brings it up at dinner that evening, which tells Jared that he knew already. Jared's not pissed; it's one of those things Jensen's not supposed to tell people before their agents do.

"Are you going to take it?" Jensen asks after a moment of strained silence.

"Do you want me to?"

Jensen looks at him then. "Jay, I want you to do what will make you happy. If that means signing with the Nats for a couple years, then do it."

"We'll only get to see each other on TV, and maybe in inter-league."

"And the Series," Jensen says with a smirk.

Jared laughs. "I thought that went without saying."

"I'm serious, though, Jay. Play, if that's what you want to do. You've still got at least a couple years left in that arm of yours - no sense in leaving the game on my account."

Jared cards a hand through his hair. "Okay. Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

Jared retires at the ripe old age of thirty-three, his arm finally giving out for good. There weren't the bells and whistles from Jensen's retirement eleven years earlier, no fans declaring undying love and assurances of hall-of-fame or people begging him to find a way to stay, even if it means becoming a tenured DH. To everyone on the outside, Jared Padalecki is just a pitcher past his prime, someone who might make a good pitching coach or who might end up becoming the town drunk in a no-account midwestern farming community.

Jared refuses to be either a pitching coach or a town drunk.

Instead, he finishes moving all his shit into Jensen's little house in Anaheim and informs his best friend and partner that they're going to need to fence in the back yard so the dogs have a place to run around.

Jensen says, "What dogs?"

Jared grins sunnily and replies, "The ones we're adopting. From the local animal shelter."

"What?"

Jared just keeps smiling and leans into Jensen, pressing his hip against Jen's. "Never you mind," he rumbles in Jensen's ear. "I'll take care of  _everything_."

Jensen draws a quick breath. "I bet you will," he manages, but his voice cracks, and Jared has to laugh before kissing him. Jensen moans, shifting forward and up. "Jaaared," he groans. "I gotta get to the park."

"Fuck baseball. Manager's not necessary anyway." He presses in even closer, but Jensen pushes a knee into his thigh, just sharp enough to be painful. With a sigh, Jared steps back. "Fine, fine. See if you get any tonight."

"Yeah right. Like you're capable of resisting me." Jensen grins smugly, well aware that he's right.

Jared just rolls his eyes and says, "You're gonna be late."

"You're coming tonight, right?"

Jared smirks. "I better be." Jensen makes a face at the double-entendre, grabs his bag, and heads for the door.

He stops short and turns back into the kitchen. "What kind of dogs are you thinking, anyway?"

Jared shrugs. "Dunno yet. But you've got an off-day next week, and I called the shelter, and they said we were welcome to come by."

Jen's eyebrows are furrowed in that way that means he's thinking about the potential for the "gay issue" to come up. "I told them you were wanting to adopt and I'm coming along to help out," Jared says quickly. "As a second opinion."

"Oh. Okay." He smiles quickly. "See you later, Jared."

He's out the door before Jared can answer.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mike said he can probably get us an interview with  _Sports Illustrated_."

Jared stares at him, mouth open. "You serious? You're sure you want to really go whole-hog like that?"

"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right," Jensen says, bravado he doesn't feel in his voice. "I... If we're gonna burn bridges, we might as well burn the big ones first."

He stares down at his hands, tries to ignore the terror that claws at his stomach. Jared presses a warm palm to his jaw, lifts his face so Jensen doesn't have a choice but to look at him.

"If us coming out is all it takes to burn all those bridges, fuck them. They don't deserve us."

"I could lose my job, Jay," Jensen says. It's unlikely - they told the upper management a while ago, and Dorothea, the GM, merely said,  _And your point?_  - but it's still a possibility. Especially if the franchise starts losing revenue because of it.

"Don't tell me you don't have enough money to go into retirement tomorrow. Remember, I'm the one that actually pays attention to your paychecks, and I know for a fact that you're worth more than our house."

The money's not the point, and Jared knows that, so Jensen just gives him a glare.

Jared sighs. "Seriously," he says, leaning in to kiss Jensen's cheekbone, "it's gonna be fine. We'll roll with whatever punches they throw our way." He pauses. "Do you want me to make the phone call to Mike?"

Jensen shakes his head. "No. I can do it. I need to do it."

"Yeah, okay."


	4. Chapter 4

A full-team meeting is called once everyone reports for Spring Training. Dustin isn't surprised by that - it's SOP to have a full meet and greet after all. What's weird, though, is that Jared Padalecki is at the meeting. Dustin's fairly certain his former teammate and one-time mentor hasn't been hired as a pitching coach. Then again, there's only one other reason he might possibly be here, but Dustin's pretty sure that's not going to happen.

Of course, he's been wrong before.

When the last of the forty-man have filtered in, Coach Morrison launches into the standard start-of-spring-training spiel. Dustin only half-listens; he's heard it all before, and he's much more interested in the way Coach Ackles is fidgeting. It's not like him to be  _twitchy_. Dustin's worked with him for a total of five seasons now, on two different teams, and the last time he saw Coach like this was that first season with the Angels. Something is up, for sure, and he wonders...

The meeting is drawing to a close when Coach Ackles finally stands up. "Gentlemen," he says, "I have a final announcement to make." The man glances nervously back at Padalecki, and there's no doubt in Dustin's mind what's coming next. "Next week the newest edition of  _Sports Illustrated_  will hit magazine racks and tablets everywhere. The cover article... Well, I wanted you all to hear it from me, first."

He stops, and then Padalecki's coming up beside him. Jared puts a hand on Coach's shoulder and smiles at the team. "You want me to take over?"

Coach shakes his head. "Gentlemen," he says again. "I'm gay."

There's a collective intake of breath around him. No one seems to know quite what to say. And then a voice says, "Bout time you admitted it. You two've been attached at the hip since I first met you." It takes Dustin a moment to realize that he's the one who said it.


	5. Chapter 5

Jared can feel Jensen shaking under his hand as the entire Mariners team shuffles out of the meeting room. "You okay?" he asks.

Jensen nods once, then changes his mind and shakes his head. "No."

The other coaches are the last to leave, and Morrison gives Jared a quick nod as he shuts the door behind him. Jared takes the privacy for what it is and shifts to wrap his arms around Jensen.

"Hey, that wasn't so bad, right? Nobody threw anything at you, like you said they would. And hey, if anybody does try to throw things at you, we can just get Marty to trade them to the fuckin' Yankees or something."

The comment elicits a shaky laugh from Jensen, which only makes Jared want to hold him tighter.

"It's gonna be okay, Jen. You'll see." Jared's sure of it, and not only because he has to be.


	6. Chapter 6

They've only been  _out_  for a few weeks, but to Jensen's eye, everything is going smoothly. Sure, the hate mail has increased and become more varied (now he is going to hell for winning the World Series  _and_  being gay, instead of just the former), but pretty much everybody is okay. No one on the team has requested a trade, and the front office hasn't sent him an angry memo. It's going well, and Jensen is beginning to wonder why he ever thought it wouldn't.

It isn't until he gets home after Winter League that he remembers.

The dogs are the first to greet him when he walks in the door, the smell of dinner on the stove the second. "Jay?" he calls as he leans down to pet Sadie.

"In here!" Jay's voice sounds a bit odd, but Jensen figures it's because he's preoccupied with supper.

Jensen sets down his bags, figuring he can wait to do laundry, and steps into the kitchen. Jared is busy dumping a package of hamburger meat into a frying pan - it must be taco night. Jensen moves up behind him, putting his arms around Jared's waist and holding him close.

"Missed you," he mumbles into Jared's neck.

Jared laughs. "Liar." He shifts. "Now move. I'm trying to cook here."

"Smells good."

Jared looks at him for the first time, his smile all dimples. "Thanks. It'll taste even better if you set the table."

Jensen does so, and they chat idly about Winter League while Jared finishes cooking the meat. Jensen tells Jared about the minor leaguers coming up, about the rightfielder who'll probably replace Guzman within the year. "I'm telling you, Jay, this Gore kid's gonna blow everyone away." Jared hums in agreement but doesn't say anything.

They sit down to their tacos and beer, the room silent but for their chewing for a few minutes before Jensen finally says, "What about you? How're things at the Club?"

The Boys and Girls' Club. It's the reason Jared didn't come with him to Winter League. Since his retirement, Jared has been working as a volunteer coach and tutor. It suits him; he's a bit like a walking jungle-gym, and he's always been great around their youngest fans. The Club is something he loves, so when Jensen sees how Jared's face falls, he knows it's bad.

"Jay?"

"Not gonna work at the Club anymore," he says quietly, looking anywhere but at Jensen.

"What?"

"Sarah said they got complaints from parents after we, you know. It wasn't too bad at first, nothing they couldn't handle, but then somebody started a petition. Got a lot of signatures, sent it to the higher-ups." He looks up at Jensen. "Sarah didn't want to do it, but she had to. Told me I couldn't work there anymore."

It's precisely the reason Jensen never wanted to come out in the first place, the stupid assumption that he and Jared could corrupt people by their very existence. It's completely ridiculous, but it's the root of all the other reasons he ever had for not coming out. It was bad enough when he was the one at risk of being told he was a danger to other people, but for someone to tell that to Jared?

A wave of righteous anger washes over him, and he says, "We'll sue them."

"No! The last thing they need is a lawsuit. That place doesn't get enough support as it is. If we try to sue, they'll probably shut it down."

"But, Jared!"

"I know, I know," he says, moving around the table so he's at Jensen's side. "It's stupid and it's shitty, and it doesn't make any fucking sense, but that's the way it is. We both knew that things like this might happen, and we just have to deal with it." He grins. "But I'd rather deal with it by saying, 'fuck them,' than by trying to fight it out." He kisses Jensen then, who frowns at the taco breath.

"Yuck."

"What was that, Jen?" Jared whispers in his ear. "Did you say fuck?" He bites Jensen's earlobe, because he _knows_ what it does to him.

"Jared," Jensen can't help but whine. "I want to finish dinner." Jared pouts back at him, but acquiesces, letting him finish his taco before dragging him to their bedroom.

Later, when they're both sated and loose, Jared murmurs into Jensen's collarbone. "I had an idea."

"Oh?"

"We could start our own place." Jensen lifts his head a little so he can see Jared's face. "Call it The Jared and Jensen Place for Kids of All Genders to Learn to Play Ball from the Best."

Jensen laughs a little. "You've been watching _Zoolander_ again, haven't you."

"So?"

Jensen strokes a hand down Jay's back, smiling at the jump of muscles beneath his fingers. "A place of our own might be nice," he concedes.


End file.
